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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Today I'll be reviewing some products I've received from the generous PR reps at Brushlove.com! As a disclaimer, I do not get paid to do these reviews and this review is 100% my honest opinion. Thanks!

I received a total of four brushes: two round barrel brushes, a plastic bristle brush, and a wooden boar hair/nylon bristle brush. (Please click on the retailer picture of the brush to see the link)

Brushlab Orange Ceramic Thermal Jumbo Hair Brush

I used this brush to blowdry my hair while it was partly damp and partly dry. The brush did a very good job of getting a hold of my hair and did not tangle any hair at all. I've tried boar bristle round brushes in the past and all of them did not adequately grip my hair without tangle. The bristles do not scratch my scalp and are for the most part gentle. It's a great brush for achieving volume and straighter locks. The grip is also very comfortable due to the tiny nubs! This brush gives me a little static hair but it's nothing a little patting down can't fix.

Retail Price: $12.98

Brushlab Ceramic Flow Thermal Round Hair Brush

This brush is great for shorter hair as the barrel is smaller. I think these bristles are even softer than the orange brush! The bristles are also treated with tourmaline to break up moisture molecules and target odor-causing bacteria. I also used this for blow drying on damp/half dried hair. The grip doesn't have any nubs on it, but it is still easy to use. The bristles also didn't pull at my hair too much, so I didn't have massive hair fall-out for this brush. Causes me a little bit of static, but not a big deal.

Retail Price: $11.98

Brushlab Pretty Pink Dual Mirror Brush Combo Hair Brush

This brush is more like the ones I use for everyday, I normally use a nylon bristle paddle brush. The best feature in my opinion for this brush is the mirror in the back. The mirror is very nice quality--sometimes cheap mirrors can appear somewhat cloudy, not clear. Although this is described as a travel brush, I feel like the size is still a little big for travel, but I think I will bring this along for my next trip! The bristles on this brush are very gentle as well.

Hana K. Diamond Wood Oval Cushion Hairbrush

I own a similar boar bristle brush but that one gives me tons of static although it states Anti-Static. This one doesn't give me much static at all! It really smooths my hair down, I love the sleek effect. My only gripe about this brush is that the nylon bristles are quite scratchy and a gentle hand is needed or else the scalp might be irritated.

Overall: I am very satisfied with the Brushlove hairbrush line! The items are very high quality and are mostly sold in beauty supply stores such as ULTA. Some little qualities of the brush were not the greatest but no item is perfect. All of these brushes and more hair supplies (flat irons, blow dryers, curling irons) can be purchased at Brushlove.com.

Score: 4.5/5

Note: Some of you asked me for swatches for the Urban Decay 24/7 liners, I will do so and post sometime this week or next week! By next month (January) I will have more time to update, my college apps are due by January 1st... Wish me luck! Thanks to everyone for continued support, I'm sorry I am not always available to answer questions! If you need something answered, always feel free to email me, my contact email is to the left.

I've also received my Mario Badescu samples yesterday, I will make sure to review them! I'm in the process of trying everything out now.

It comes with nine pencils and all of the colors are so vibrant, creamy and pigmented.

Currently I obsessed with using the black and brown one but I also love the navy and aubergine ones too. The sizes are a bit small: each one measures about 3 inches (including the cap). But that doesn't really matter since I'm don't use makeup every single day. If I love it enough, I'll buy the full size. I was thinking of getting the MUFE 4 eyeliner set but thought there were more colors in this set... Oh well! Maybe next time :)

I love this color! So natural. I was compelled to buy it after seeing Fuz's swatch on Beauty Swatch. The formula is really smooth, buttery, and moist. It makes my lips watery which I love.

Do you see that strange picture in the background? That's the new Barney's catalogue.. hehehe

My Thanksgiving Dish!

My family doesn't really like turkey so we made a roast pork loin! Last year we made a roast beef dish but this year we tried something a little different... Despite the little chars on the top, doesn't it look mouthwatering?

It is seasoned with a little sea salt, rosemary and slathered in peppercorn mustard. Then you wrap it with strips of bacon and tie it up so everything stays together. Place some apples and onions on the side and roast for 90 or so minutes while checking to see if it's roasting nicely.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Today I will be reviewing a product! It's another mask... Yeah I know I've been only reviewing masks these days but I haven't been applying makeup lately due to stress induced acne (so sad right?)

Also I've been having some ear piercing infection problems since last week. I first got my earlobe pierced in August so my piercing is not that old yet. I wear all 14-18k gold/white gold earrings so not a problem with the metal allergy. Last week I had some yellowish puss, redness and swelling but I did a hot water sea salt bath for my ear everyday for 1 wk. I shouldn't have stopped but this week my ear seemed to be normal so I stopped. However now it's getting itchy again and my earlobe is still swollen (no redness though). I don't think it's really necessary to go to the doctor since there's no puss or bleeding. Right now I'm doing the salt bath again and using the solution from the piercing place. What do you all do when you get piercing infections?

Anyway on to the review!

Kose Clear Turn White Hyaluronic Acid Mask

This mask is sometimes available in Mitsuwa but I would recommend checking Sasa out

Instructions and some details about how hyaluronic acid works. Read more about Hyaluronic Acid in my review for the Hada Labo Facewash.

When you open the package

On my face

Pros:

- Very, very moisturizing! A+

- Mask fabric is thin but liquid solution is gel-like and very concentrated

- Mask fabric reminds me of a paper towel, sticks so well to my face and fits my face well

- After I pat residue on my face, my face is very smooth

- No scent, no irritation

Cons:

- Leaves a slight stickiness but goes away immediately after patting in residue

Overall Rating:

5/5 :)

For my Japanese class I had to make a Kyaraben or Character Bento. Bento is a very big cultural aspect of Japanese life, bento is basically a lunch box or box food. There are varieties of bento from cheap convenience store bento to very deluxe and high quality bento with gourmet food (some cost 100 dollars or more...).

A kyaraben was originally a creation made by mothers for their children to make food appealing to eat. Also the kyaraben was made to combat picky eaters or other problems that some children have such as the dislike for vegetables. In general, the kyaraben is just so fun to look at and eat!

So this is my kyaraben...

Isn't it kind of scary and cute at the same time?

It's actually supposed to be Totoro but I'm not very good at making kyaraben to look exactly like the character so this is my best.. Haha. I'm going to try to make bento for myself at least once a week and maybe improve my cooking skills. Most kyaraben use cute cutters to make shapes and various accessories like decoration toothpicks. I have these little rice shaping molds that make rice into cute animals like rabbits, frogs, and bears but I don't know where those molds went!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Happy Belated Halloween! I didn't go out yesterday for any halloween celebration, I celebrated on Friday.

I also finished the early app that was due for November 1st :) Thank you to all of those who left very nice and comforting comments!

Here's my Halloween costume:

Do you know who I am? Take a guess. I'm a popular 60's cartoon character--which one? :)

I was in a group with a bunch of people doing all of the characters from this particular cartoon.

So I've made some hauls during the month of October that I haven't shared with you guys. I decided to take advantage of the sale at Sasa and go for the Silk Whitia buy one get one free deal. I picked three types of masks and and got 6 boxes in total... I'm not really sure if I love the Silk Whitia masks as some others do. I've used two kinds so far: the Anti Oxidation Whitening Mask and the Whitening and Moisturizing Mask. I also got the free little cookie mirror that came with the special free shipping deal but I found out I have the SAME exact one--my friend gave one to me last year.

My Initial Thoughts:

- After leaving it on for 25-30 minutes (maybe that's too long?), I felt the mask creating some filmy substance that peeled from my skin if I rubbed it

- No sticky residue but again, the strange peeling layer after drying on the skin

- Whitening action was moderate, moisture was good

- High quality fabric and very gel-like consistency

- Scent is a bit like baby wipes--not really appealing but not a bad scent

Can somebody tell me if this peeling thing happened to you too? It's like I put on a peeling mask and rubbed my face to remove the mask... Haha. Maybe it's because I left the mask on for too long...

Second haul was from Shu Uemura. I bought some items from the new Holiday '09 collection that features Tsumori Chisato. I bought only two items and none of them were makeup items. For some reason, the eyeshadow palettes didn't really appeal to me at all, most colors were not so special so I didn't buy them. I wanted the lipstick but I was afraid of the brownish color (however now that I see swatches.. I want it LOL). So I decided to get the two items that would really show the cute pattern and design of Tsumori Chisato.

The Cosmetic Pouch

Cute box!

Haha this pic reminds me of a black animal opening its mouth.

Isn't the star zipper adorable?

The puffiness of the pouch makes it look a little large... but it's cute!

2nd item: The Mirror

The box is not as cute but it's nice and simple.

It comes with a little pouch which is like this strange fleece like fabric... Reminds me of Old Navy pajamas that had the label: don't leave near fire/flame. I wish it came in a satin or velvet pouch!

Cute pattern right? I'm comparing it to my freebie Minnie Mouse mirror I got from the MORE magazine for September. It's very similar... -_-; The angle is a bit different though. I prefer the Tsumori Chisato/Shu Uemura mirror angle better.

Size is overall about the same. The pattern is adorable though! Maybe the cat mirror is a teeny bit studier than the Minnie mouse one.

Hehe, silly pic of my shooting myself in the mirror. Do you like my orange nails? They complemented my Halloween costume (the sweater especially). The shade is from Zoya.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Happy Weekend everyone! I think as time goes on I update later and later every week. This week was so busy for me! I had 4 tests and other assignments due...

Today I will be posting about the GWP in the November Spring magazine, which was the Jill by Jill Stuart makeup pouch! Isn't it adorable? I love the heart print. I bought this about 2-3 weeks ago in Sanseido at the NJ Mitsuwa but my local Sanseido is really fast in stocking new magazines so maybe your local Kinokuniya or other bookstores might still have this magazine in stores.

It's actually quite roomy, look how much makeup and tools I can storage in here! That's about four eyeshadow palettes in there with more space available, 3 mascaras, 1 blush palette, two eyeliners, one E/s duo, a mirror, an eyelash curler, a powder foundation, and 3 concealers.

The pouch also extends on the sides so you can fit even more.

The goods inside! Haha I'm so proud that I made a dent in the Kevin Beautymaker concealer.

Mesh lining on the side

3 slots for mascaras, eyeliners, any other cylindrical shaped item, and another slot.

Now for some magazine scans! :) The cover features Miho Kanno who is 32 years old and looks so young! Please click to enlarge pictures!

The eye makeup article special: "Eye Popping Eye Makeup - 5 Ways"

Eyelining and mascara instructions

Monolid Eyes

Smokey Eye for Monolids

Large Double Lid Eye

Droopy Eye

Wide Spread Narrow Eyes

Small Eyes - How to look more awake!

Sad Expression Eyes - How to look happier!

Tense, Harsh Eyes - Transform to Softer look

Also small notice: I'm selling some magazines for a school fundraiser, if anyone is interested in ordering or renewing magazines, please contact me at ixheartbear (at) gmail (d0t) com. You will be buying at prices up to 85% off cover prices! For example: 1 year subscription of Marie Claire is only $12, 2 years is $15. This offer is only for US residents~ :) Thank you for supporting!

Also, my blog sale has been updated with 2 new things. Go check it out by clicking on the link up by the Bulletin Board!